One-Minute Reads ... News from around the region

CUBA

Gov't to implement new COVID measures

The authorities in Cuba have announced that new measures will be implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19 across the island.

The decision was made following reports of more cases in some provinces in east central Cuba last week.

Among the provisions to come into force as of September 1 are that mobility of people will be restricted from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. (local time).

These provisions include state and private transportation. Interprovincial trips will be suspended, except cargo vehicles, especially food.

Control at the 12 access points to the capital will be strengthened, as part of the measures to restrict entry to, and exit from, the city.

In addition, work visits to the provinces by domestic companies and institutions will be suspended for 15 days. To date, Cuba has just under 4,000 COVID-19 cases and 94 deaths.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Mandatory mask wearing comes into effect

Starting today, the wearing of masks is mandatory in Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the amendment to the existing Public Health (Amendment) Bill, 2020, violaters face a fine from as low as TT$1,000 (approximately US$148) for the first offence to TT$5,000 (approximately US$735) for a third offence.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said it was unfortunate that it came to this, indicating that some people were reluctant to follow the various measures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus that has so far infected 1, 577 people and killed 19 in the twin-island republic.

BERMUDA

Backbencher resigns before election

Ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) backbencher Rolfe Commissiong announced last Friday that he will not stand as a candidate in Bermuda's general election on October 1.

Commissiong, who was MP for Pembroke South East before parliament was dissolved, said he did not want to "be a distraction" after a "mistake" from two years ago came to light.

"I made a comment I shouldn't have. I made a mistake, I apologised. For the good of the party, and Bermudians who deserve strong leadership in these trying times, I have chosen not to be a distraction. To that end, I will not be a candidate in the general election," Commissiong said. "The affected party and I entered into a legally binding confidentiality agreement which prohibits me from speaking further. The matter has been settled and it is closed."

He said that the re-emergence of this issue reflects political motives of undisclosed parties who are seeking to discredit him and the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party for their own ends.

USA

US Attorneys General continue to fight for 'Dreamers'

New York Attorney General Letitia James says she is co-leading a coalition of 17 attorneys general across the US in continuing the fight against the Trump administration's efforts to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

DACA is an Obama administration programme that protected about 700,000 young Caribbean and other immigrants, known as Dreamers, from deportation.

After the US Supreme Court ruled in June that the Trump administration's attempts to cancel DACA were unlawful, the programme was supposed to resume.

But, instead of continuing to process new applications, James said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new memorandum on July 28 by the acting secretary of homeland security, Chad Wolf, which directed DHS to make interim changes to the programme -- including declining to accept any new initial DACA applications -- while Wolf considered whether to fully rescind DACA.

USA

Haitian-American lawyer makes history

A Brooklyn, New York-born Haitian American lawyer, Fabiana Pierre-Louis, has created history by becoming the first black woman to serve on New Jersey's Supreme Court after the full Senate voted unanimously to confirm her last week.

Pierre-Louis, 39, a former prosecutor, who moved with her parents from Brownsville, Brooklyn, when she was eight, to Irvington, New Jersey, succeeds Justice Walter Timpone, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in November, on the New Jersey Supreme Court. With her nomination, Pierre-Louis becomes the youngest person to serve as justice on New Jersey's highest court.

"I know how important it is for young people to see people who look like them, or come from similar neighbourhoods as them, or similar backgrounds, to see those people in positions of leadership," Pierre-Louis said.